Update: Mariners respond to lesbian kissing controversy

Update: A Mariners spokeswoman has said staff acted on a guest complaint that the women were “groping and making out.” Mariners staff are investigating the incident. Read below for more.

A lesbian woman says she was targeted by a security guard at Safeco Field because of her sexual orientation (update: Mariners staff say it was a seating host, not a security guard. Read below for more).

Sirbrina Guerrero told KOMO/4 that a security guard at Monday’s Mariners game asked her to stop or leave after a mother saw Guerrero kiss her date and complained to staff.

Safeco Field’s code of conduct discourages public displays of affection “inappropriate” in a family setting, but officials told KOMO their security guards would not target same-sex couples.

Seattle has a reputation as gay-friendly city. It has the second highest proportion of gay and bisexual residents, second only to San Francisco.

So this incident could be a sign that we’re not as tolerant as the numbers might suggest — at least, not in front of the kids.

Guerrero suggested the woman who complained did not want to explain to her son why two women were kissing. Would you have had the same issue?

No stranger to publicityCitizen Rain points out Guerrero was a contestant on the MTV reality show “A Shot At Love II” with Tila Tequila. According to her profile, she works at the Cowgirls Inc. bar in Pioneer Square. Also — Dan Savage at The Stranger (along with several commenters on this blog) is calling for a kiss-in at Safeco Field. …

Mariners respond
Soon after this post was first published, I got an e-mail from Mariners spokeswoman Rebecca Hale and gave her a call. Hale had read the post and the comments and wanted to respond.

“We would like folks to know that we’re treating these complaints and concerns very seriously,” Hale said. “We’ve definitely not got a policy that states that if you’re gay, you can’t kiss at Safeco Field. Our policy is, if your behavior is inappropriate in a public setting, we are going to proactively intervene.”

That policy is not selective, Hale said. Mariners staff have intervened twice in the last month or so in inappropriate displays from heterosexual couples — one in a Terrace Club lounge and another in a restroom.

Hale clarified that Monday’s incident, now under investigation, never involved security. The women were not removed from the game and it was a seating host — one of the people in the green jackets — who addressed a complaint from a guest that two women were “groping and making out.”

In those situations, staff are instructed to “request for cooperation to moderate their behavior,” Hale said.

After speaking with the seating host, Hale said, the women left their seats some time around the third inning and spent a “good chunk” of the match up filing a formal complaint to Guest Services. Hale did not know whether the women then left the game or returned to their seats.

She said staff would speak to the seating host involved in the incident Friday.

“This is not a place where we are targeting people based on sexual orientation or any other classification. Our goal is to have an atmosphere where everyone is welcome,” she said.

“If it turns out we were in error, we’ll do what we can to make it right.”